Edmund G. "Gill" Woods

President of the National Association of REALTORS® - 1995

Edmund G. “Gill” Woods, Jr., a REALTOR® from Holyoke, Mass., was the 1995 President of the National Association of REALTORS®.

1995 was a year of rapid technological advancement. As NAR president, Woods pushed for the National Association and its members to take advantage of technology to help meet consumer expectations and ensure the REALTOR® is the central source of information in a real estate transaction. While he was president, the ground-breaking REALTORS® Information Network was introduced, which soon evolved to become REALTOR.com.

Woods also led NAR as an advocate for homeownership and the real estate industry. He rallied REALTORS® in a winning fight to preserve the mortgage interest deduction when it was threatened by a tax reform package. “I’ve probably never been prouder to be a REALTOR® than I was this year when I saw what 750,000 REALTORS can do when they get together to protect, not just themselves, but the nation’s homeowners as well,” he said.

He and NAR also lobbied to cut capital gains taxes and supported laws that separated banks from real estate activities other than lending.

Gill was a multiple REALTOR® of the Year award winner and served as the Holyoke-Chicopee Board president in 1977-78. His committee work for the National Association includes many years as a member of NAR’s Board of Directors as well as work with the Public Policy and Strategic Planning committees. He is also a former director of the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®, and served as its president in 1984.

A third-generation REALTOR®, Gill’s grandfather opened a real estate office in Holyoke in 1905. As a youth Gill Woods used to hang around his parents’ real estate office in Holyoke. When he was 17 his busy father asked him to go to a nearby house that was for sale and open the door to allow prospects to walk through. The house sold.

Despite his accomplishments and heritage, Woods described himself as a typical broker who does the same things 750,000 other REALTORS® do.